Walk With Me...

I wanted to show some of the buildings in downtown that I have an attachment to.  However, I never seem to get the hang of downloading these pictures in the order I want. 

So, in reverse order that I intended: this is the Cal Trans Building which was designed by Thom Payne,  a Pritzker Prize winning architect based here in Santa Monica.   The building is included in many architect tours and touted for it's innovated approach to environmental concerns and sustainable architecture.  It may not look like much from this shot but it includes the south facade being covered with photovoltaic cells that supply 5% of the buildings energy.   The side of the building we're looking at has a glass skin that is covered with aluminum panels.  The panels open and close mechanically timed with the movement of the sun shielding the interior from direct sunlight but allowing for views to the outside.  Are you asleep yet?  Remember this is working backward.  Originally you could have been awake now.

BTW- the crowds in the streets were the comrades marching for the May Day Protests.  And yes, it was taken from the "unofficial" observation deck that Brad and I discovered.

And here is the lovely Frank Gehry designed Walt Disney Concert Hall.  If you look closely you can see where they drilled holes into the front facade to write the name of the building.  Below is the Farmers and Merchants bank building circa 1905.  It was popular at the time to build banks to be "temples of finance"... these days they seem to be more temples of disaster but I digress...

This is Saint Vibiana's, which was the original seat of the catholic church in Los Angeles built in 1865.  It was severely damaged in the 1994 earthquake and was set to be demolished (the catholic church was disinterested because they were planning the massive new cathedral in another location).  Local preservationist pushed to save it and it's now a performing arts complex.

This last picture needs a little explanation.  If you look between the two large buildings you'll see a small white towerlike building; it's totally dwarfed by the buildings around it.  

When I was a kid, I always called it The Carrot Building because the design always made me think of a carrot standing upright.  At that time Los Angeles had a building height restriction of, I believe, 13 stories because of our earthquake threats.  The result was a pretty flat and boring skyline.  As a child, when we would drive into downtown two buildings were the most prominent and tallest:  city hall and this little carrot building. 

As building technique improved, the height restrictions were released and now my little carrot building is swallowed up and very difficult to see.

THE END